Big bounce-back game for Boychuk in Game 7 after doldrums of Game 6
Boychuk/By S. Bradley
BOSTON — Johnny Boychuk admits things couldn’t have gone any worse for him than they did in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final Wednesday night.
Boychuk was on the ice for all five goals Tampa Bay scored en route to forcing tonight’s Game 7. Tonight Boychuk turned it all around, as he was on the ice for the lone goal — Nathan Horton’s score with 7:33 left in regulation — and played an airtight defensive game in the Bruins’ conference-championship-clinching victory at the TD Garden.
“It was almost devastating,” Boychuk said about Game 6 among the celebration after Game 7. “When you’re on for every goal against, it kind of puts a hole in you and you want to make sure to bounce back. You learn to more or less forget about it and bounce back and try to win the game. The team needed me more than ever and I had to play good in this game no matter what.”
Boychuk said he got support from everyone — his coaches, teammates, friends and families — in the aftermath of Game 6. He more than rewarded their faith in Game 7, as he was active on offense with two shots on net and three shots blocked, in addition to a couple great close-down defensive plays on Lightning wingers Simon Gagne and Teddy Purcell that made sure the game remained scoreless until Horton could pot the game-winner.
So from the hell of Game 6 to the euphoria of Game 7, Boychuk is now on the verge of living the dream. He’s not content, however, with just the conference championship.
“So far [this is a dream come true]. Not yet,” said Boychuk. “We’ve still got four wins to go.”
Those wins will be more likely to come if Boychuk continues to bury Game 6 against the Lightning deep in the past.
At long last that ridiculous loose-cannon finally paid off for the home team.
Tough kid, that Stamkos. As bad as it looked, I thought he lost his top row of teeth. Glad its just a nose – every hockey player has an f’d up nose.
This Bruins team still has untapped potential. Most people figure Vancouver will win the cup. The Bruins could surprise a lot of people.
Last night my daughter and I said that it was going to be Boychuk’s redemption game and it was. He had a nice game, but honestly it is hard to point at anyone on the team and say they played poorly-they really played a good, strong team game with few mistakes.
And poor Stamkos-that shot to the face would have put most people down, but he gets a little attention and a cage and comes back to fight for the championship. I am glad it was for naught, but you gotta respect the kid for that kind of fight. Boychuk’s shot isn’t soft and he was pretty close.
Probably another endorsement for the shields-I hate to imagine what his face would have looked like had the shield not absorbed some of that impact.
A true Bruins fan knows when a player doesn’t have the best game, you still have their back……and we have yours and you stepped up LARGE last night……way to go johnny B!!!